Wheel clip



1954 o. J. POUPITCH WHEEL CLIP Filed Nov. 26. 1952 aga/x dks zgim w/wm United States Patent O WHEEL CLIP Ougljesa Jules Poupitch, Itasca, Ill., assignor to Illinois Tool Works, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application November 26, 1952, Serial No. 322,685

9 Claims. (Cl. 301-63) The present invention relates to a clip adapted to be secured to a wheel, and more particularly to a clip adapted to close openings in a standard disk-type wheel for automobiles and the like.

Standard disk-type wheels for automobiles generally include an annular rim and a central disk welded or riveted to the rim. It is the general practice to provide slots or openings spaced about the peripheral edge of the disk, which openings are useful for mounting skid chains and the like on the wheel in a well known manner. It has been found that these openings often become clogged with dirt or other foreign material, and in cases where a large diameter hub cap is used, it has been found that rocks often pass through the opening into the cavity between the hub cap and the wheel disk. Such rocks trapped within the hub cap often scratch or otherwise damage the cap or wheel disk and, in addition, cause an annoying rattling when the vehicle is in motion. An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above mentioned difficulties by providing a novel clip which is adapted to be quickly and easily mounted on the wheel to close the openings in the wheel disk.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a novel clip for the above described purpose, which clip may be economically manufactured from sheet material, such as sheet metal.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel clip of the above described type with simple, yet highly effective, means for securely mounting the clip on the wheel.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, showing the novel clip of this invention mounted to close the openings in a standard disk-type wheel;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical cross section taken along line 2--2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, showing a wheel clip embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, showing the attachment means of the novel clip of this invention in greater detail;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view, showing a slightly modified clip embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the modified clip of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view, showing a clip emhbodying the principles of this invention mounted on a w eel.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by the same numeral throughout the various figures, a wheel clip 10 embodying the principles of this invention is shown best in Figs. 3 and 4. The clip 10 includes a body member having a generally V-shaped cross section and having body sections 12 and 14 integrally joined along line 16. It should be noted that the body section 14 and the junction line 16 are curved to conform with the curvature of a wheel rim, as more fully described hereinbelow.

At its opposite ends, the V-shaped body member is cut along the junction line 16, as at 18 and 20, to provide attachment means 22 and 24 integral with and at opposite ends of the body section 12. The attachment portion or means 22 includes a section 26 integrally joined with the body section 12 along the line 28, which line extends from 2,698,204 Patented Dec. 28, 1954 ICC As will more fully appear below, this angle is given only by way of example and may be varied any desirable amount in order to adapt the novel clip for various wheel structures. The section 26 of the attachment means extends substantially perpendicularly from the plane of the body section 12 and then merges with a wheel engaging cam portion 30 along a bend line 32, as shown best in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The cam portion 30 extends from the section 26 at an angle of about 30 and then merges with a terminal end portion 34 along a bend line 36. This terminal end portion extends at an angle from the cam portion 30 and in a plane generally parallel to, but preferably at a slight angle to, the plane of the attachment portion 26. As indicated by the like numerals applied to the various elements, the attachment means or portion 24 is formed in substantially the same manner as the attachment means 22, and, therefore, need not be described in detail. It is, of course, understood that the various elements of the attachment portion 24 are disposed just the opposite from the elements of the attachment portion 22 so that the wheel engaging cam surfaces 30 of the two attachment portions face generally in opposite directions and lie in planes disposed generally at an acute angle to each other.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 7, the wheel to which the clips of the present invention are applied includes a standard wheel rim 38 having a centrally arranged wheel disk 40 mounted thereon. In general, the wheel disk 40 is usually provided with a peripheral flange 42, which flange fits within and is either riveted or welded to a central substantially flat section 44 of the wheel rim. In order to provide openings through which attaching means for skid chains and the like may pass, the flange 42 of the wheel disk is formed radially inwardly, as shown at 46 in Figs. 2 and 7. The flange portion 46 is connected with the annular portion of the flange by an inclined portion 43 shown in Fig. 7. The inclined portion 48 is generally disposed at an angle of about 30 to a line tangent to the annular portion of the flange 42 at the junction of the inclined portion with the flange. However, it is understood that this inclined portion may be formed at any desired angle and that the clip may be adapted to be secured to the wheel by changing the angle of the junction line 28 between the attachment portion of the clip and the body sectionj12 substantially to correspond to the angle of the inclined portion 48 of the flange with the annular portion of the flange 42.

When mounting the clip 10 on the wheel, it is merely necessary to insert the attachment portions 22 and 24 through the opening provided by the inwardly deformed portion 46 of the wheel disk 40 until the cam portion 30 of the attachment portions engage behind the inwardly facing edge 50, as shown best in Figs. 2 and 7. It should be noted that the clip 10 is long enough so that the attachment portions 22 and 24 engage the inclined portions 48 of the disk flange at opposite ends of the opening. During the insertion of the attachment portions through the opening, the terminal ends 34 act as cam surfaces for engagement with the disk flange to permit the attachment portions to slide easily through the opening. When the clip is fully seated, as shown in Figs. 2 and 7, the cam portion 30 of the attachment means firmly engages the inwardly facing edge 50 of the disk rim, and due to the inherent resiliency of the sheet metal from which the clip was preferably formed, the attachment portions 22 and 24 draw the V-shaped body member into the opening until the body section 12 and the body section 16 become firmly seated against the wheel disk 40 and the wheel rim, respectively. It should be noted that because of the generally V-shaped cross section of the body member, a wedging action takes place between the body member and the wheel disk and rim, which wedging action materially aids the attachment portions in retaining the clip in mounted position. It should be further noted that the opposite ends of the body section 14 present outwardly extending fingers which extend beyond opposite ends of the opening in the wheel disk for engagement with the disk, thereby to prevent the clip from being inadvertently forced too far into the opening. In Figs. 5 and 6, there is shown a slightly modified form of the present invention, which is substantially identical to the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, as indicated by like reference numerals directed to corresponding elements. In the embodiment in Figs. 5 and 6, the body section 14 is provided with a plurality of V-shaped teeth 52 spaced along its free edge, as shown in Fig. 5, and deformed outwardly from the plane. of the body section 14, as shown in Fig. 6. Thus, when the clip is in the as sembled position shown in Fig. 6, the teeth 52 dig into the wheel rim section 44, thus to provide additional holding means to retain the clip in mounted position on the wheel structure.

From the above description, it is seen that the present invention provides a novel clip for closing the openings in a standard disk-type wheel to prevent foreign material from passing through such an opening. While the wheel, as illustrated herein, is shown as having four openings, each closed by a separate clip, it is obvious that the clips of the present invention could be applied to close any number of openings in a given wheel. Furthermore, it is, of course, understood that the particular dimensions and shape of the body section 12 of the clips of this invention may be varied to fit the particular shape of opening to be closed, it merely being necessary to insure that the body section 12 is of sufficient size to cover the openings fully, as shown in Fig. 1. It is thus seen that the novel clip of this invention will prevent any foreign material such as rocks from either clogging the opening or from passing through the opening in the wheel disk to the cavity formed between the hub cap 54 and the outside face of the wheel disk 40. It is further seen that the present invention provides a simple clip which may be easily and economically manufactured from sheet material stock and preferably from a resilient sheet metal by simple stamping and bending operations. In addition, it is seen that by reason of the novel formation of the attachment formations and the generally V-shaped cross section of the body member, the novel clip of this invention may be quickly and easily mounted and is securely retained in such mounted position.

While the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention have been shown and described herein, it is obvious that many changes may be made in the structural details of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A clip for closing openings in a wheel, comprising a sheet material body member of sufficient size and shape to cover said opening and to be wedged between opposite sides of the opening, a pair of attachment portions integral with said body member and extending generally laterally therefrom and adapted to be passed through said opening, at least one of said attachment portions having a cam surface disposed in a plane inclined at an acute angle to the plane of said body member and adapted to engage agenerally axially inwardly facing edge of the wheel to securely retain the clip on the wheel while permitting removal of the clip without injury thereto.

2. A clip, as defined in claim 1, wherein said cam sur- 4 face on said one attachment portion merges with a second cam surface disposed at an angle thereto and toward a free end of the attachment portion, which second cam surface is adapted to engage a side of the opening in the wheel to guide the attachment portion through said opening.

3. A clip, as defined in claim 1, wherein said attachment portions are disposed adjacent opposite ends of said body member, and each of said attachment portions include cam surfaces disposed in planes inclined at acute angles to a plane of said body member, said cam surfaces facing generally away from each, other and the planes of said cam surfaces being disposed at an angle to each other for engaging generally axially inwardly facing surfaces of the wheel adjacent opposite ends of the opening.

4. A clip for closing openings in a disk-type wheel, which clip includes an elongated body member having a generally V-shaped cross section with the open end of the V facing axially outwardly with respect to the wheel, and attachment elements extending laterally from said body member and adapted to be inserted through the opening in said wheel.

5. A clip, as defined in claim 4, wherein at least one of said attachment elements includes a cam surface disposed for engagement with a generally axially inwardly facing surface of the wheel.

6. A clip for closing openings in a disk-type wheel, comprising an elongated body member having integral body sections joined along longitudinal edges thereof and disposed at an angle to each other, one of said body sections and the junction between said body sections having an arcuate shape, said body section being adapted to engage opposite sides of a wheel opening and attachment elements disposed adjacent opposite ends of said body member and extending laterally therefrom and away from free longitudinal edges of the body sections for insertion into the opening in a wheel so. that upon application of the clip to a wheel said angularly disposed body sections are wedged between opposite sides of the opening.

7. A clip, as defined in claim 6, wherein said attachment elements include cam surfaces engageable with generally axially inwardly facing surfaces of the wheel.

8. A clip, as defined in claim 7, wherein said attachment elements include second cam surfaces towards ends of the elements disposed at an angle to said first mentioned cam surfaces and adapted to engage a side of the opening to guide the attachment elements through the opening.

9. A clip, as defined in claim 6, wherein said one body section includes teeth adjacent a free longitudinal marginal portion thereof for engagement with a wheel rim to restrain inadvertent removal of the clip from the opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,411,163 Lyon Nov. 19, 1946 

